Slavery Blockers

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

On December 22, 1865, William Lloyd Garrison terminated The Liberator. The absolute and unyielding mission of The Liberator was the abolition of slavery. Garrison wrote The object for which the Liberator was commenced—the extermination of chattel slavery—having been gloriously consummated, the chapter was closed. The deed was done. Mission accomplished.

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In the year of our Lord 2024, we are experiencing mission creep. The enemy has been redefined as the lingering effects of slavery. It occurred to me that repeated exposure to the horrors of slavery serves no constructive and good faith purpose today. Reality today reflects the choices of the living, not the collective dead from nine generations ago. So, do we block repeated trauma from weaponizing of a mission accomplished back in 1865?

One useful device might be the idea of blockers. In the world of transgenderism, puberty blockers are used to block the normal progression of human development. Similarly, hyper remembrance of slavery impedes the normal progression of keeping past bondage in perspective. I may have had one or two conversations with my Grandma born in the 1800s about slavery. Nothing more. It is normal to keep historic slavery in the past, not to live in the slave past.

Another dimension of blockers can be found in the universe of social media. The use of blocking others is recognized as constructive when one is dealing with abusive abusers, toxic personalities, and soul draining dark souls. I have only blocked one person in my personal life. And this person was “Klingon” who bullied me for my opposition to reparations for American slavery. Blocking Klingon restored peace to my soul. Life is too short to live in anxiety and torment.

Let’s try a thought experiment together this evening.

Suppose a Black American teenager is suffering from depression, anxiety and lack of joy in her life. On the outside, Allison is living the American Dream. Both of her parents are doctors. Dad is a cardiologist. Mom is an OBGYN. Allison lives in a plush neighborhood. Her home is a fairy tale mansion. She belongs to Jack and Jill. Mom and Grandma have steered our teenager to Alpha Kappa Alpha. And yet our teenager has internalized dogma and slogan words, the George Floyd moral panic and the permanence of racism and white supremacy.

Let’s call our unhappy privileged teenager, Allison. Three to five times a week, she hears in her segregated black affinity group at her elite private school Blackness is Oppression. Nothing else matters.

What is to be done? Allison is on a path towards self-harm. And the deranged white-hating posts on Tik Tok are not helping.

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Imagine this therapy session….

Therapist: How was your week, Allison?

Allison: (feeling anxious and depressed) Our student council organized a school picnic for Spring Break. How could they do it? Picnic is a racist term, a microaggression! I get so tired doing the work at school. I am exhausted. https://www.inquirer.com/news/language-race-systemic-racism-tipping-point-picnic--20200801.html

Therapist: Allison, have you heard about slavery blockers?

Allison: Slavery blockers?

Therapist: A drug company developed slavery blockers in Botswana. Since 1960, the leadership in Botswana mandated racial harmony. They did this by eliminating all racial categories. They wanted a color indifferent society. But they found black descendants of American slavery could not forget past slavery. So, the President ordered a medical intervention to solve this mental health crisis among American expats. And viola! The slavery blocker.

Allison: How does it work?

Therapist: Well, it is not legal here in the U.S. You and I would have to travel to Botswana for a prescription. It is a marvelous intervention. You take two slavery blockers and, presto, you can no longer read the word slavery. It is that simple. The word is whited out. Studies show that the words we consume define our mental state. For some reason, the inability to see the word slavery does the trick over time in freeing oneself from the weight of an American slave past.

Allison: What about the words slave, enslavement or enslaver?

Therapist: Any offspring of the root word “slavery” is whited out from one’s life.

Allison: But I would feel guilty forgetting slavery and the harm to my ancestors.

Therapist: Before any descendant of American slavery can take the pill, they must read American Slavery As It Is (1839) from cover to cover. Studies have shown that reading 1,001 eyewitness accounts mitigates feelings of guilt about taking the slavery blocker.

Allison: How about hearing the word slavery?

Therapist: The brain hears only muffled sounds. And that applies to offspring of the word “slavery” as well.

Allison: Would I feel better as a black teenager?

Therapist: In my experience, one feels like a black expatriate overseas in Berlin or Paris or Fiji. The weight of American slavery dissipates. Now, you might be unhappy for other reasons. (Laughter) But the lingering effects of slavery will not enter your mind or your soul. Here, take a look at this training video. In this video, blockers are used to block out entire people, not just words.

Notice the immersive blocking effect. The main character cannot see people. People are whited out. People cannot see the main character. He is whited out. This will be your brain on the slavery blockers. Slavery, slave, enslavement, slaver, slave holder, slave owner, slave master — those words will be whited out to your eyes and unheard by your ears for the rest of your days.

Conclusion: Allison’s Mom was not keen on the slavery blocker. Would Allison be less Black on the slavery blocker? Nonetheless, Allison was a spoiled teenager who didn’t like Jack and Jill meetings anymore. She convinced her parents to approve the treatment. One March 25, 2027, Allison and her therapist traveled to Botswana for the slavery blocker prescription. The most difficult part of the process was reading American Slavery As It Is from cover to cover. Allison broke down and sobbed.

“I’m ready. I’m ready to pass over!” Allison told her therapist.

After Allison took the slavery blocker, she expected an immediate change. Her world did not change overnight, however. It was not until she began noticing muffled sounds in her classes and white outs in assigned readings did Allison feel a lessening of a burden, a historical weight. She began to laugh more, hang out with happier people. Those who spoke in dogma and slogan words seemed more and more delusional as Allison approached her high school graduation.

She felt called to attend the University of Austin in Texas where she majored in business and accounting. Today, Allison works overseas for a Botswana international development firm.

Sometimes, it is better to forget than to remember all the time.